Formula One ( F1 )

Kimi's retirement announced, feels more and more like it's Bottas to Alfa

It’s an epic trolling exercise- Kimi will be announced as Mercedes number 2 driver after Zandvoort.

Pretty flawless from Max but dull as expected. Warming to him as a person but there's something so unlikeable about Red Bull, they really are the guys standing at the back of the dancefloor.

@mmccarthy , Vettel leading in overtakes this season!

Yeah, I mean Mercedes weren't exactly on top form so the 2 against 1 wasn't as effective as I thought it would be. Personally I've never found Red Bull to be too unlikeable, but Horner is a champion shit-stirrer and Marko should probably just not say anything as there's rarely anything interesting or constructive that comes out of that mouth. So it's not exactly difficult to see why they're disliked. Though I'd honestly rather put up with Horner than Wolff.

Probably easy for Vettel to be leading on overtakes given the qualifying woes this season!

Also, this race did show what I think is one of the main reasons folks tend to dislike Hamilton, when things don't go his way he's pretty horrible to listen to on the radio. Definitely feels like he's more likely than others to air some dirty laundry in public.

Also, also, did enjoy Bottas' radio comms after the final stop, when told that he would not be going for fastest lap, "So... why did we stop?". Has definitely replaced Barrichello in my mind as the ultimate second driver. Looks like the announcement to Alfa will come in the next day or so, seriously looking forward to Russell v Hamilton next year if so. Wouldn't be surprised if it ends up not to dissimilar to 2007.

the ultimate second driver

Rubbish and completely unable to match his teammate?
He seems like a likeable guy but he's been given the best car on the grid for season after season and he hasn't managed to do much with it. Rosberg was supposed to be number two and really took the fight to Hamilton. I suspect the same will be true for Russell.

Bottas confirmed at Alfa. Press release pretty bland. Multi-year. Exciting. Part of a new project. 2022 rules. Et cetera. No news about team mate.

Russell not formally confirmed

the ultimate second driver

Rubbish and completely unable to match his teammate?

I think Bottas had done a pretty solid job of being a number 2 driver and scored a lot of points for the team. He's just not a world title contender. Compare him with the job Perez or Albon (both of whom i like) have done/did and suddenly he looks a bit less shit. RB and Ferrari have been the only teams to challenge Merc in recent years and neither of them have had a really solid 1-2 line-up. Current Ferrari pairing is looking very good but not exactly competitive.

this race did show what I think is one of the main reasons folks tend to dislike Hamilton

You're all just jealous you can't rock an orange jump suit and granny glasses :)

I think most the drivers sound like tedious pricks when we hear then complaining on the radio but we do get to hear Hamilton whine that little bit more. Max, Seb, Charles have all had there fair share of tantrums.

Only Kimi, Alonso and maybe now Norris seem to be able to complain about how shit something is without being too annoying. Too his credit i can't recall DR doing it much whilst clearly struggling with the car.

Doesn't need to match his teammate though, he needs (from a Merc POV) to ensure the team get the WCC & WDC. He generally does a good enough job (which isn't asking much given the performance Merc have generally had over the competition during his stint) to not interfere with Hamilton too much and get solid points that prevent another team competing for the WCC.

Now that Merc might actually have some competition (though who knows what's going to happen next season), I think they'd much rather have one driver take all the wins and another who's happy to fight for 2nd-4th. Though feels like Bottas was getting tired of the number 2 driver treatment so may not have played ball for much longer regardless.

Definitely expect Russell to go all out and not sit back and be ordered to hold back. Fingers crossed at least!

I've also personally never rated Bottas that much (compared to the rest of the field), just this generation's Barrichello/Webber/Massa.

To be fair to the RB second drivers, no one has been able to match Verstappen. Ricciardo got close but didn't want the second-driver treatment so buggered off. I think Albon, Gasly & Perez are all pretty decent (I'd say a tier higher than Bottas for sure), but I don't think RB can expect someone else to come in and do what Max can with that car. I'm by no means a Max fanboy, but I don't think there's another driver on the grid who I'd bet on in terms of thrashing their teammate, whoever it may be.

Hah! The guy can wear whatever he likes, I hold no opinions on that side of a driver's life!

I think it's more that Hamilton (all IMO) seems to be pretty whiny and directing the fault at the team (on the flip side, he does give the team credit when all goes well so there's that), but I guess it's more the tone than anything. Max and Seb seem to get more angry which is probably not as grating to listen to (IMO), though Vettel's is usually directed at race control & blue flags. Disagree on Charles though, he seems to take blame for anything he can think of! The "why did we do this guys" remarks are really just a distraction from the racing and should surely be a post-race discussion behind closed doors. Anyway, just my thoughts and I'm not a driver/strategist so my opinions are not worth much here!

Part of me does miss Alonso's stint at McLaren Honda, there were some excellent (and not constructive) complaints in those days!

I've heard (though not sure why this is the case) that the Russell announcement is coming tomorrow. Seems like an odd thing to do but who knows what the PR thought processes are here.

I wonder who will get the second seat at Mercedes 😱

Guess it’s official

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Worst kept secret in F1 history. While I'm happy for him, I would've loved to see him succeed with Williams too

Worst kept secret in F1 history. While I'm happy for him, I would've loved to see him succeed with Williams too

He did succeed at Williams - he'll drive for Mercedes

I mean, unless they mean that he would take Williams to a Red Bull/Merc level team, which probably is a bit much to expect.

I'd say he was damn successful at Williams, and regularly exceeded expectations.

I think he also had to move now, rather than after a couple more years at Williams- career progression is based on momentum in part, and he needs to maintain it.

I’d like to see what Norris could do if he was in the other Redbull.

Chuck Norris?

I'd say he was damn successful at Williams, and regularly exceeded expectations.

Agreed. Sad that Williams will probably slip back again now, I think Russell could really over-drive their car.

With the new team principle and cars for 2022 I can see them doing steady progress to the midfield over the following 5 years. But that for sure would be lost potential on Russell

But equally with a new team principal & regulations, they could equally just fall behind even further than they already are.

Aside from assuming that Mercedes & Red Bull will be in the top half of the field, I can't really see any reason for confidently assuming which teams will move up or down.

Maybe I was blinded by George's performance in that car and the general vibe that Jost is well suited for the job, assuming Williams were making serious progress.

Quite interesting is the question who will take George's place now.

Hopefully the 2022 Mercedes is competitive for him under the new regs

Albon to Williams, would not have predicted that one a week ago!